A woman in the US has lost all her teeth and been diagnosed with a rare bone condition after drinking 100 tea bag’s worth of tea every day for 17 years. The 47-year-old woman developed skeletal fluorosis after drinking a pitcher of tea made from 100 tea bags every day; it is thought that the fluoride levels in that amount of tea and water would easily be responsible for the disease.

The patient visited a doctor in Detroit, Michigan, after suffering pain and stiffness in her bones; it was discovered that she had very dense bone in her back and calcification in the ligaments of her arms, her teeth had also become so brittle that they all had to be extracted. After x-rays revealed the abnormally dense areas of bone in her vertebrae, the woman’s fluoride levels were tested and found to be four times higher than normal.

Fluoride is good for the teeth and can prevent cavities in small amounts, but when consumed at such a high level over a long period of time, it is not safe for general health. Experts recommend that water should not contain more than 4mg of fluoride; this patient had been consuming at least 20mg every day.

Skeletal fluorosis is not common in the UK but it can develop in countries where the fluoride deposits in the water supply are naturally greater, such as India. The woman is expected to make a full recovery after reducing her consumption.

Hollywood actor Antonio Banderas has filmed a new advert for Wrigley’s Extra sugarfree gum, entitled Break up With Lingering Food; it sees him speaking candidly to a gang of animated food characters to try and get rid of strong food flavours after mealtimes.

The commercial shows the 52-year-old finishing off his meal in a restaurant, then attempting to ‘break up’ with the left overs of a doughnut and a cupcake – the animated characters don’t seem too keen on the Shrek star telling them ‘Look, lunch is over, so this is over.’ The ‘break-up’ is then confirmed as Banderas takes out a packet of the mint-flavoured gum and pops one in his mouth.

After filming was completed, Antonio said ‘Animation is a particular passion of mine, so to be able to play alongside an animated character, as opposed to doing the voice over for one, was something completely new for me.’ He went on to joke that he found it somewhat ‘unnerving’ to work with an animated doughnut who could ‘quite easily steal a scene.’

The company’s UK & Ireland Marketing Director Pamela Bower-Nye, said that they wanted to create a fun campaign for the New Year, saying ‘While we all love to eat and drink, some foods leave a lingering effect on teeth, and can be difficult to get rid of. Antonio brilliantly brings this scenario to life with the help of his Food Gang friends. The intention was to communicate the oral care benefits of chewing Extra gum after eating and drinking in a light-hearted and engaging way.’

Everyone knows that drinking too many sugary soft-drinks is bad for your teeth, but one Australian dental patient has found that out the hard way, after losing all his teeth due to drinking between six and eight litres of soft drink every day. Twenty-five year old William Kennewell chose to ignore dentist’s warning that the addiction would cost him his teeth and has undergone dental treatment to remove the remaining teeth and replace them with a denture.

William also suffered with blood poisoning because of the extensive decay, he explains that he only had thirteen teeth left after years of drinking fizzy pop and they all had to be taken out due to extreme decay. He goes on to say that his addiction started because he didn’t like drinking water and, working in the hospitality industry, he had easy access to Coke and other carbonated soft drinks. Luckily, William’s health is now improving after the extractions, thanks to a denture.

Researchers at the Australian Research Centre have called for stronger warnings on food and drink labels to identify products that leave the consumer at greater risk of tooth decay. However, Australian Beverages Council chief executive Geoff Parker said that it was more important to instil good oral hygiene habits into children, commenting that ‘singling out one particular part of the diet is a misguided approach to dealing with an issue such as dental hygiene.’

She shot to fame in the eighties as the face of Volkswagen’s ‘Changes’ ad campaign, but after a car crash in the early hours of the morning, most people might not recognise Paula Hamilton; the 51-year-old suffered shocking injuries to her teeth, knocking out three of them and damaging several others.

Police were surprised to find the former model cowering in the bushes near her country home after the 4am collision, and were immediately suspicious that Paula had been drinking or taking drugs, but she has now come forward claiming that she was not in any way intoxicated. Paula stated that she had swerved to avoid hitting a baby deer, then crashed into a lamppost, fence, and a neighbour’s conservatory; injuring herself in the process. ‘I’ve lost my front teeth and I’m in huge amounts of pain,’ she says, ‘but it was worth it to save that mother deer and her baby.’ Police officers demanded a blood test, but she has not been charged following the incident.

Although some people might be sceptical about Paula’s story, she says she doesn’t care what others think, and even less how they perceive her now that she has some teeth missing. ‘My looks aren’t that important to me,’ she insists, adding ‘what is important is that I did not harm a defenceless creature.’

It is thought that Paula will now undergo treatment using dental implants and is currently wearing a denture to replace the lost teeth.

Most of us would be forgiven for calling in sick to work if we were suffering with a terrible bout of toothache, but that wasn’t an option for singer Leanne Rimes on Saturday night, as she was scheduled to perform with the Alabama Symphony Orchestra and she was determined not to let her fans down. ‘See? I have pain, just like everybody else.’ She joked with a sympathetic crowd as she took to the stage.

The 29-year-old country music star is booked in for a root canal treatment this week, after developing a painful toothache that was exacerbated by movement when singing and drinking water between songs. Leanne explained her condition to the audience, telling them that she was ‘being really honest right now,’ and adding that she was ‘really struggling.’ She must be looking forward to getting her dental surgery over with in the coming days, so she can get back to doing what she does best, without toothache complicating matters.

Before her encore it became clear that Leanne was in a lot of pain, as she left the stage for several minutes, then returned and told the fans ‘I had to cry back there, and I’m good.’ The singer then appeared to rally herself and said ‘I’m just going to go for it’ before belting out an acappella version of ‘Amazing Grace’ to the stunned crowd.

Living with X-Factor reject Frankie Cocozza in the Big Brother house for three weeks would probably be enough for anyone, but TOWIE (The Only Way Is Essex) regular Kirk Norcross can’t get enough of his new BFF. The two have been seen out on the town various times since they left the Channel 5 reality show, and the heavy partying seems to be taking its toll on Essex boy Kirk.

Frankie might be used to drinking all night, but Kirk has revealed he needs to slow it down a little, after developing a wisdom tooth infection. Wisdom teeth come through at the back of the mouth, behind our two molars, and can cause real problems if there is not enough room for them, or they become impacted under the gum line. The TOWIE celebrity is also going to have to lay off the booze for a few days, after being put on antibiotics to fight the infection. ‘Damn wisdom tooth!!!’ He tweeted, ‘Antibiotics for me now no drinking for awhile [sic]! Thanks mr dentist! X’

He was less jovial the next day, after a sleepless night with a painful tooth, telling his followers he was really suffering; ‘Omg I have never had a toothache this bad in my life, been up most of the night in so much pain!!!!’ He later begged ‘Get me 2 the dentist L’

Pop singer Jessie J has had another blow to her health this week, as her wisdom teeth have come through with a vengeance. This is the latest in a list of medical problems she has suffered with in recent years, and she’s struggling to cope with the painful eruption of her new molars.

The 23-year-old has been told to avoid drinking alcohol because of an irregular heartbeat, and suffered a stroke when she was just 18. Her bad luck didn’t end there though, Jessie spent the summer hobbling around on crutches as a result of a broken foot – she gave most of her performances from a seat on stage. The surgical boot was only removed last month, so she didn’t get much respite before the pain from her wisdom teeth kicked in. Wisdom teeth can be notoriously troublesome, even if they erupt correctly, but if Jessie’s luck is anything to go by, we can expect them to be impacted and very problematic.

The Price-Tag singer moaned to her fans via Twitter about the pain in her teeth, saying ‘Wisdom teeth have decided to start coming though. Mouth is swollen… I am just going to ignore the fact that I’m growing fangs and carry on…’

Let’s hope they don’t cause any problems during the next few legs of her UK tour.